Renewable Energy for the Urban Home

The
ultimate promise of Renewable Energy techniques is total energy
independence from the addiction of oil and other polluting sources of power. For most people, it can only be a dream. Cities
and suburbs offer an established grid to provide efficient
centralized power to the home, often making it more expensive than it is worth to cut all ties to the electrical grid. When the use of solar power is
considered, most of us see, in our mind's eye, banks of deep cycle
batteries and rack after rack of photovoltaic panels following the
path of the sun. This requires a lot more space and expense than many urban home-owners are willing or able to give up. The dream of true energy independence requires
careful integration of lots of complex equipment to allow it.

This is a wonderful dream, but many
people forget that you don't have to go all the way, or do it all at once. It not a real
moral compromise to use the energy available in the electrical grid
supplying the cities and towns, but supplementing that with a portion that is renewable . By integrating the home solar system
with the existing grid there is no need to add as many panels or use
as much complex equipment. Even better, batteries are not needed. Every little
bit of electricity that is produced independently helps. If you are
modifying a home that already has municipal electricity and are
thinking of changing to solar power, staying connected to the grid is
a valid way to proceed. It will save a lot of money if the grid is part of the plan.

Solar Panel-ground install

Solar Panel - Ground Install

Power center with battery bank

Advantages of adding Solar Electrical Production to your home

The
most important advantage is the resulting lower electric bill. As
soon as a solar system is installed, the electricity that you produce
is much less costly than the high priced electricity from your local
company. As long as the sun is shining, the cost of your home power
is dramatically reduced. In many cases, with proper initial
planning, additional panels can be added to produce more and more
power over time.

Remember, every kilowatt that the sun produces
through photovoltaic cell technology is one that does not have to be
produced. This one of the best rewards for the earth, the electric
company will not have to produce the power you are using, saving
non-renewable resources and dropping, even if ever so slightly, the
green house gases being emitted from the power plant.

Connecting
to the grid using Solar panels requires much less equipment. With an existing
grid tie in effect you only need four components:

• Solar
panels, this is where the suns rays are absorbed to become electrical
power.

• Solar
panel mounting system, you need the support and frames to support the
solar panels and keep them in place.

• Suitable
wiring, the electrical conduit from the panels to the electrical
inverter must be to standard and most likely professionally
installed.

• Grid
connect inverter, Changes the direct current electricity that the
panels produce to alternate current so you can use it with your
appliances.

In
direct connect to the grid, there is no need to store your power for
later use. all the electrical power generated by the panels. In most
cases it will not be the total consumption of the home, so everything
that is created is used immediately. With just these four components,
you will have full use of the grid connect solar power system.

Disadvantages
of tieing to the Grid

When
you add solar panels to your home, you will find that the biggest "con"
to having any solar panel system is that at night you produce no
power whatsoever. If there are extended periods of inclement
weather a solar system produces very little power. On cloudy days,
and during the night periods, you will need to rely on electricity
supplied from the power company.

Unlike
a fully independent home system, a grid-solar panel power system
will often be dark when the power company has a blackout or power failure. Depending on the wiring, the power may
be cut off as well. This is often a legislated requirement to protect the griid system from receiving power from the home, which could be dangerous for maintenance teams. This is not a definite though, depending on how much
is actually being manufactured and if the sun is shining, the
solar-grid connect home may be better off than surrounding houses.

Maintenance

With
the grid solar power system there is very little or no maintenance.
The only real maintenance there is Mother Nature generally will do
with rain. This is to clean the solar panels. There are no batteries
to be filled or maintained. The panels will rarely require
replacement when properly located and the electrical inverter should
be basically hands off for many years.

What
Does it Cost to Have a Grid Connect Solar System Installed?

Solar
panel systems are dropping in cost as the technology becomes more
prevalent. No matter what, it can be prohibitively expensive to provide the power you need for your home during the sunny
parts of the day. Much depends on the aims of the installation. Intelligent beginners start the path to energy independence a small bit at a
time. If there is proper planning that allows the system to build
and grow over time, this can be an effective way to build a viable
system over time.

The cost of having a system installed will depend
on whether you are going to completely supply all of your own power
right away or start with a partial supply and build up supplying all needs more slowly. By starting out
small, it will probably cost at least $12,000 dollars. Completely
removing the need for electrical power while the sun shines budget
for about $35,000 dollars at least. Then you have to consider how to make up for power when it is dark or overcast. Later hubs will consider these needs.

Making
Too Much Juice

We
all hope the day will come when the system is making more energy than
what your home can use. It can happen as the efficiency of the
panels improves and energy saving appliances and lighting are
implemented. Depending on the laws and regulations of the
local municipality, you may be able to sell the excess back to the
power company. Unfortunately many power companies won't pay
high premiums for this green energy. Another alternative to consider
would be to begin to build the bank of batteries to extend the life
of the power supply to the home. The decision to keep and use the
power generated or sell it is a personal one and often determined by
the laws and rebates in force.

A
grid connect solar power system is not cheap to have installed at the
beginning, but it is well worth the cost. The price of energy in all
its forms is getting more expensive all the time. When using this
system for just a few years of cheap electric bills or, better yet,
no electric bills, the system will pay for itself over time while reducing
the personal burden the household places on the environment.